Audi motorsport reveals their plans for 2013

Audi has done exceptionally well this year with sales of over 1.34 million vehicles worldwide and is continuing this performance by charging ahead in the…

Audi has done exceptionally well this year with sales of over 1.34 million vehicles worldwide and is continuing this performance by charging ahead in the motorsports circuit too. Based on this, Audi will be competing as the title defender in the 2013 World Endurance Championship and will also bee taking part in the DTM activities.

For the FIA World Championship (WEC),Â Audi will be fielding three cars, which include two updated Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars, and a R18 e-tron Quattro. These hybrid cars have been infused with superior hybrid technologies which provide the brand with an edge over other vehicles taking part in this event. Audi is expecting to do well in the DTM, by hoping to unlock the Audi A5 DTMâ€™s capabilities.

Jamie Green has been signed on by Audi for the DTM event thereby strengthening its driver line up considerably. The Audi R8 GRAND-AM will be featured at the 24-hrs Daytona Race event and will be piloted by Filipe Albuquerque, Oliver Jarvis and Edoardo Mortara. To boost its image in the motorsports world, Audi will be offering its customers an evolution version of the Audi R8 LMs ultra. For more information, scroll down.

With more than 1.34 million worldwide deliveries, Audi equaled last yearâ€™s sales record after only eleven months. And in motorsport, the brand with the four rings continues to charge full speed ahead too. The title defense in the FIA World Championship (WEC), the commitment in the DTM and extended activities in US racing are particularly in focus in the 2013 season.
â€śSuccessful motorsport is part of our brand DNA,â€ť stated Wolfgang DĂĽrheimer, Member of the Management Board for Technical Development at AUDI AG, on Wednesday night at the â€śAudi Sport Finaleâ€ť held at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt. â€śThe victories on the worldâ€™s race tracks underscore our technical expertise in a particularly authentic way â€“ and they strengthen our position on the most important world markets.â€ť

Three hybrid race cars at Le Mans

In the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Audi is competing as the title defender in 2013. Audi Sport Team Joest will be fielding two updated Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars, a third R18 e-tron quattro will be running at the Le Mans 24 Hours and the WEC race at Spa.

At Le Mans and in the WEC, Audi is thus exclusively banking on hybrid technology that was successfully introduced in 2012. The flywheel energy storage system is becoming even more powerful without any substantial increase in weight and size. Strictly in terms of its exterior, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro will hardly differ from this yearâ€™s winning car although numerous technical innovations are again assembled under the vehicleâ€™s ultra-light carbon fiber skin. In a parallel project, Audi Sport is already intensively working on the successor car for the new LMP1 regulations that will come into effect as of 2014.

Contrary to the WEC, the technology in the DTM was frozen for the 2013 season by the regulations. Therefore, Audi Sportâ€™s DTM squad is primarily concentrating on unlocking the Audi A5 DTMâ€™s full potential by the time the season opens at the Hockenheimring on May 5. â€śWeâ€™re convinced that we were clearly beaten below our capabilities in 2012,â€ť stresses Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. â€śIn the DTM itâ€™s about a few tenths of a second â€“ and we need to find these few tenths in 2013 with the A5 DTM.â€ť

A strengthened driver lineup is to support this endeavor. In the Briton Jamie Green (30), Audi has signed one of the quickest present-day DTM drivers. â€śTogether with our established drivers and stars we should be in an even better position than before,â€ť adds Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

Remaining on board are the two-time DTM Champions, Mattias EkstrĂ¶m (Sweden) and Timo Scheider (Germany), Race of Champions winner Filipe Albuquerque (Portugal), the two-time season winner Edoardo Mortara (Italy), Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller (Germany) and youngster Adrien Tambay (France), who by finishing the round at Valencia as the runner-up immediately clinched a podium position in his first DTM season. The decision about filling the eighth cockpit is still pending.

With the 24-hour race at Daytona and an intensified commitment in the GRAND-AM Series, Audi is ringing in its return to US racing. In the United States, the brand with the four rings is recording stronger growth than the US market as a whole, particularly in the prestigious large-premium-car segment. The racing activities in the United States are intended to support this trend over the long run.

Therefore, an entry of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro in the 12-hour race at Sebring (Florida), which Audi has won on ten occasions, on March 16 is in planning as well. â€śIt looks like this may be the last opportunity to compete with an LMP1 car at Sebring,â€ť says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. â€śWeâ€™d really like to use this chance and say goodbye to the fans with a nice showing after our fantastic success story in recent years.â€ť

This may not have to be a final farewell, though. In 2014, the GRAND-AM Series and the American Le Mans Series will merge to form a new North American Sports Car Championship that might be of interest to Audi. Furthermore, the US fans will have another opportunity in 2013 to watch the Audi R18 e-tron in action as the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) will visit Austin (Texas) on September 22.

Evolution version of the Audi R8 LMS ultra

But Audi is not neglecting the customer sport market in Europe and the rest of the world either. An evolution version of the Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3 sports car that mainly differs from the current model in the area of the rear section will start to be delivered to customers by quattro GmbH in February 2013.

Customer teams supported by Audi Sport customer racing will be competing in the 24-hour races at the NĂĽrburgring (Germany) and at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) in 2013. The increasingly diverse customer sport program of AUDI AG will be complemented by the Audi R8 LMS Cup in China that was successfully launched in 2012.

â€śWeâ€™ve got a very attractive offering for our customers with the updated versions of the R8 GRAND-AM and the R8 LMS ultra plus the Cup in China,â€ť says Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. â€śWeâ€™re expecting to deliver the 100th customer car during the course of 2013.â€ť